


The Thief’s Love Song

by AntaresPromise



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Fantasy, Humor, Illustrated, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-25
Updated: 2018-05-25
Packaged: 2019-05-13 12:07:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14748573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AntaresPromise/pseuds/AntaresPromise
Summary: To Yuuri’s fury, he found the legendary thief he couldn’t capture fast asleep on the cherry tree in his own backyard.The most dangerous place also happened to be the safest place.





	The Thief’s Love Song

**Author's Note:**

  * For [argyros (argentumluna)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/argentumluna/gifts).



> I would like to thank [Luna](http://argyros.tumblr.com/) for kindly giving me permission to create this story inspired by her amazing [art](http://argyros.tumblr.com/post/172711503697/just-in-time-for-sakura-season-o-possible), and to be able to embed it into my story. 
> 
> I would like to also thank [Rakel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadhahvar/pseuds/shadhahvar) for being my wonderful beta. 

 

Exasperated, Yuuri shook his head in disbelief.  _ Are you doing this to make me the laughing stock amongst hundreds of guards under my command?  _   
  
He glared at the cherry blossom tree he took care of since it was a sapling and the thief perched on it, fast asleep, as if in the middle of a good dream.    
  
Yuuri buried his head in his hands. _ I have been trying to catch you for the past twenty days, and you turn up right in my backyard. I can’t believe you stole the ruby on the King’s crown from under my nose.  _   
  
The thief’s silver lashes fluttered. 

Yuuri shook the trunk and nothing happened other than a few petals drifting to the ground and stray silver locks spilling over the branch.    
  
“You are under arrest,” Yuuri cleared his throat.    
  
The thief stirred and adjusted his chin resting on folded palms.    
  
Yuuri contemplated climbing up himself. His eyes narrowed at the sight of a pair of shoes the thief left at the root of the tree.  __  
  
Ocean eyes opened a slit. Instead of recoiling, the thief grinned at the sight of the knight below clad in royal blue, “Ah Captain Katsuki, you found me.”    
  
“The likes of you should not be allowed to speak my name,” Yuuri wore same facial expression his guards feared. They knew this look meant business, and the possibility of additional drills for two hours.    
  
“Arrogant aren’t we.” Victor stood on the tree and flashed a mischievous smile. “My name is Victor Nikiforov, nice to meet you.” The front his white tunic open, revealing sculpted muscles as he yawned.    
  
Yuuri’s fingers curled around the hilt of his sword. From the way Victor moved, Yuuri knew he would not be an easy opponent.    
  
“The honorable captain Katsuki will tackle an unarmed man without his shoes,” with one swift leap Victor landed onto the grass without a sound, summoning a gush of wind to break his fall.    
  
_ The Zephyr Tribe,  _ Yuuri’s lips parted, his heart raced at the thought of the mysterious nomads from the high mountains with potent magic of the wind running through their veins.  __ They were also the last people capable of speaking to the dragons in the world. I thought they vanished thirteen years ago. Impossible. He shook those thoughts away, “I don’t need a sword to take you down,” Yuuri smirked inside.    
  
Yuuri left his guards an open invitation to challenge him in hand to hand combat, and remained unbeatable for the past five years. He even through the title captain as wager. 

Every year his second in command, JJ, fought him before all of their subordinates. To his vice captain’s bitter disappointment, Yuuri remained the reigning champion. The guards betted in secret and dubbed this annual tradition “fighting naked”, not in the literal sense without clothes, but with neither weapons nor magic. The celebration became more and more elaborate, as  guards this year already spoke of saving their best ale for the occasion.    
  
With lightning speed, Victor pulled the leather straps of his worn sandals over his heels, “try me,” he fastened a ponytail with a white ribbon, “no weapons or magic allowed.”    
  
“I don’t need that to capture you,” Yuuri’s tone flat, confident and unfazed. He rested his sword against the dark trunk of the cherry tree.    
  
“Let’s make a bet.  If I win, you listen to what I have to say. If I lose, I’ll go with you to the dungeon.”    
  
“Fine.”  _ You are in for a surprise. _ Without hesitation, Yuuri feigned an attack and charged.    
  
Victor, as if capable of reading Yuuri’s mind, sidestepped and dodged his real strike.    
  
They encircled each other as a mongoose and a cobra. 

_ He’s faster than JJ, _ Yuuri blocked a roundhouse kick,  _ but he is showing signs of fatigue.   _   
  
In the split second of time between evading Victor’s next attack, Yuuri reluctantly admitted to himself this was the most fun he had sparring in a long time.    
  
Victor took advantage of Yuuri’s hesitation, gripped his arm and threw him.    
  
With a forced sharp exhale, Yuuri’s back slammed onto the grass, and stars danced before his eyes.  _ He isn’t using one hundred percent of his strength. _ Yuuri narrowed his eyes and grasped onto Victor’s bare ankles.   
  
Victor found himself on the ground next, with Yuuri’s fist stopping short of his throat. 

To Yuuri’s frustration, instead of showing fear, Victor threw his head back and laughed. “You have more stamina, that’s for sure,” he panted, “alright, take me to the dungeon.” He stretched out his wrist and propped himself up.    
  
Yuuri whispered a simple enchantment as the air buzzed with magic.    
  
He snapped a metal manacle around Victor’s wrist, glowing electric blue for a second.  _ Now I’ll know where you are, so don’t you dare trying to escape.  _ __  
  
“How’s the food in the dungeons?” Victor’s stomach growled. “It’s rough being always on the run, you know.”    
  
“Let’s find out.”

* * *

  
“Who is he anyway?” Yuuri sank back onto his favorite wooden chair woven with bamboo. Phichit thought it was stiff, resembling his best friend’s personality.    
  
“The Thief?” Phichit peered out of the circular window at the cherry blossoms. Yuuri’s father, the kingdom’s architect, designed this courtyard. “He’s a bit of a legend actually. Regarded as a hero by some, a nightmare for others, especially officials. He’s notorious for escaping from all sorts of prisons.” Phichit travelled the Kingdom as a messenger. He also knew about secrets under every rock of and every bit of dirt under the nobles’ fingernail.    
  
“I see.”  _ We’ll see how you like the maze that I designed. _ Yuuri smirked. He drew the blueprint of the dungeon himself, and laid numerous alarms and traps through its passages, including arrows that fired spontaneously.    
  
“You know, he only stole from the worst criminals in this Kingdom.” Phichit’s gaze transfixed upon Yuuri’s face, reading every minute change in his expression.    
  
“What?” Yuuri made a face.    
  
Phichit chuckled, “Nothing, I’ll send you a few documents from the archives tonight that you might find interesting.”    
  
“Can you send me the ones on Zephyr Tribe?”    
  
“Sure,” Phichit raised an eyebrow as he emptied the cup of haw-berry tea, “That might take some digging.”

* * *

 

  
Illuminated by lamp light, pink petals fluttered into the round window of Yuuri’s office. Clouds hid the moon tonight.    
  
He unrolled the scroll Phichit pulled from archives -- a magnificent grand hall with ladders decorated with elaborate carvings and enchanted lamps in suspension. The central library was every scholar’s dream.    
  
**Zephyr Tribe** ****  
**Originating from the mountains peaks above the clouds, they were the secret keepers of the dragons for thousands of years. Zephyr, means east wind. They were rumored to be capable of summoning storms, changing trajectory of  —** ****  
  
The rest of the dark yellow page had been torn, to Yuuri’s disappointment.  _ Why would Victor reveal his powers to me? _ His dark brows furled together.    
  
Next he opened the file containing a rough sketch of the thief with hair like starlight. He found himself capable of filling in the blanks.     
  
**Name: unknown.**   
  
_ Victor Nikiforov.  _ __  
  
**Powers: unknown.** ****  
  
Of the  _ wind.  _ Shivers ran down Yuuri’s spine at the thought of the thief’s ancient power.     
  
**Record of criminal activity:**   
  
_ Cases of theft: the King’s ruby, the jade goblet, escaping from prison  _ __  
  
**Current status: at large.** ****  
  
Yuuri smirked as he picked up his quill and scratched out the last two words.

* * *

 

The next morning, after buttoning his royal blue tunic and fastening his light armor, Yuuri’s jaw dropped as he caught glimpse of his favorite cherry blossom tree outside.    
  
Victor’s body snug against the branch, like the first day they met, fast asleep.    
  
_ How did he manage to escape the dungeon that I designed.  _ Yuuri narrowed his eyes, biting into his apple savagely.  _ Unless he can fly. _

He tucked the sword at his waist and ran down the steps two at a time. 

  
“Nikiforov!” Yuuri lifted his head. Soft wind sent petals rustling.  _ Some considered him a hero _ , he remembered Phichit’s words,  _ he was major trouble for the most notorious nobles of the kingdom.  _   
  
“Morning Captain Yuuri,” Victor rubbed his eyes, “food at the dungeons tasted bland. I stayed until after dinner then I excused myself.”    
  
“Alright, I’ll cut to the chase.” Yuuri crosses his arms at his chest, knowing that even the prison with highest level of security could not contain the thief. “Why are you here?” 

One of his greatest strengths, as he self reflected, had always been his judgement in  character. Behind those long silver lashes and blue-green eyes, Yuuri couldn’t find any viciousness or greed.    
  
“I’m here for you, Captain Katsuki,” Victor shifted on the dark trunk of the tree, “I think you are one of the few sensible people ruling this kingdom.” His stomach made an audible noise. A touch of pink rose from his cheeks, “Sorry.”    
  
“Wait here.” Yuuri sighed and turned, blue tunic fluttering behind him.   
  
From the blossoms, Victor grinned.    
  
Yuuri returned with an apple.  He bit into it first before throwing it at Victor as hard as he could as if trying to knock him out of the tree, “there, it’s not poisoned.”    
  
With lighting reflex, Victor caught the red apple and muttered thanks. He bit into it, his eyes bleary, “this is the best apple I have ever tasted!”    
  
For the first time, without disdain, Yuuri’s dark eyes lit up with pride. “There’s no other apples like the ones from my mother’s backyard.”    
  
Victor wolfed down the apple like he had been starving for days.    
  
“You can have another one later I guess,” Yuuri suppressed his desire to laugh. Aside from judgement of character, keeping his own emotions in check was another one of his strengths. His face showed nothing.    
  
“Captain Katsuki, I am here because I need your help.  Well, there are more people needing your help than you think.” Sadness seeped through Victor’s voice, soft like the breeze, yet laced with strength, like the the east wind.    
  
“Go on.” Yuuri stepped closer, his palm on the dark tree trunk.    
  
“Some nobles are gobbling up gold collected from the hefty tax imposed on the people, and feeding your King with lies.”    
  
“Don’t you think the King knows that already?” Yuuri exclaimed. “I’ve been investigating this case for the past year. I cannot startle them yet because one I do not have the proof, and two, I need to know who is involved in order to nip their network in the bud.”   
  
“Well, perhaps you ought hurry up,” Victor wrinkled his brow. “Their roots run deeper than you could ever imagine,” his grip around the dark tree bark tightened, his ocean eyes downcast.    
  
“What did they do to your tribe?” Yuuri asked the question like peeling the old dressing off a wound.    
  
At loss for words because Yuuri already discovered the past he never spoke of to anyone, Victor gathered himself. “They killed most of us, including the elderly and the children, after we refused to share the secret behind the dragons. Because all they wanted to do was to capture them and grind their scales into medicine, harvest their blood for its rumored property of immortality, and to dispatch them for sale.” He pressed his lips together.    
  
“I didn’t know their cruelty extended this far,” Yuuri’s nails dug into his palms, “I always thought dragons were treated as sacred in this kingdom.”   
  
“Eleven years ago, my people were forced to make a decision: to die, or to live in hiding.  To disperse, to pretend to ignore the wind, and to learn the ways of the rest of the world. It was the only thing we could do to keep the dragons safe.”    
  
“So where did the dragons go?”    
  
“As long as the Zephyr Tribe are nowhere to be found, they too can be safe.” Victor stood up and leapt from the tree, his landing soft and swift. 

Soft wind sent Yuuri’s dark locks flying.     
  
Yuuri never saw him up close like this, noticing every soft yet angular line on his face. He contemplated taking a step back but didn’t, “I’m sorry about your people.” He avoided Victor’s gaze, because for the first time he noticed how blue they were.    
  
“Thanks,” Victor sat onto the grass with his back against the tree.    
  
Yuuri joined him on the other side, their back facing each other. “What do you need me to do?”    
  
“Well, I propose a bargain,” Victor turned and their eyes met. “One of your nobles snatched someone very dear to me.”    
  
“A dragon,” Yuuri finished his sentence.    
  
“Yes. You see, the secret behind my people and the reason we never ride them like horses is because we  _ are _ the dragons.”    
  
Yuuri’s lips parted as a lump rose to his throat and shivers ran down his spine.    
  
“Some of us are capable of manifesting dragon forms, the rest possess power of the wind.”    
  
Yuuri blinked and imagined a majestic dragon with scales like starlight wrapping his body around the cherry blossom tree.    
  
“I am not a shapeshifter, but my younger brother is.  His name is Yuri. Your nobles drugged him and put him in a cage as a gift for the King’s birthday.” Victor sunk his hand into the grass. “This is what I am proposing.” Victor rummaged through his white tunic and handed a piece of folded parchment to Yuuri.    
  
Opening the page with frayed edges, Yuuri’s sharp eyes skimmed through the list of names. Nobles, lords, some well known to him for their crimes, others he would never even dreamt of being a part of this. He let out a sharp inhale.    
  
“You are going to ask how do I know this, how will I prove any of this?” Victor edged closer, silver hair spilling over his shoulder.    
  
Yuuri dusted his royal blue tunic and rose, he stood over the legendary thief.    
  
“You and I are after the same thing, Yuuri. To bring justice to those taking advantage of the weak and the poor,” a smirk hung on Victor’s face. “Remember that I am capable of escaping anything, and that I stole the ruby on the King’s crown.”    
  
Yuuri crossed his arms before his chest with indignation as he realized that everything Victor did, including going with him to prison, had been planned. His heart pounding against his chest as he realized the answer to complete his mission stared him right in the eye.   __  
  
“And Yuuri, about things I have stolen in the past, two of them I can’t return. The ruby from the I traded for the thousands of pieces of gold meant for disaster relief of the fishing village that never made it there. The jade goblet I spent on bags of potatoes and apples for the north where the locusts devastated the fields.”    
  
_ All this time he was proving himself to me.  _   
  
“Ow!” a buzzing in the air was followed by Victor jerking his right wrist. He rubbed the silver manacle Yuuri put on him from last time laced with magic.    
  
“That is a tracking spell,” Yuuri’s expression smug. “You got yourself a deal, and remember,” another jolt, “no funny business.” He extended a hand.    
  
“No wonder you made it to the Captain capable of instilling fear in the hundreds of guards under your command,” Victor mumbled under his breath as he shook Yuuri’s hand.    
  
“What?”    
  
“Nothing,” Victor grinned as he let go.   
  
A gust of wind, a flash of silver and white, and Victor sat on the same branch where he slept and kicked his sandal off.   
  
“Here’s a more serious question,” Victor’s chin rested on his palm, “will you take me on a date if I return everything I have ever stolen?”    
  
Suppressing the heat rising to his face, Yuuri replied from below, “The only place I have any interest in taking you is the dungeon.”  __ Victor, you are the most obnoxious person I have ever met!

* * *

__  
The next morning, to Victor’s delight, he woke up to a package tied to the tree.    
  
He unraveled the brown paper and gulped.    
  
Inside he found pastries, still warm from the oven, and apples from Yuuri’s mother’s backyard, each with a bite in it. He chuckled at Yuuri’s attempt at proving the apples weren’t poisonous.    
  
Amidst the petals, Victor smiled.    


 


End file.
